adam's notes

LAW6568 - Internet Law

About

Spring 2023

This is a survey course in how law applies to computers and their users. Topics covered may vary based on recent events, but will typically include jurisdiction, free speech, privacy, cybersecurity, e-commerce, intermediary liability, platform regulation, content moderation, antitrust, network neutrality, and digital property. There are no prerequisites, and the course is suitable for law students without a technical background, as well as for technical students without prior legal training.

Objective

Students who complete this course will be able to:

  • Describe the essential doctrines of Internet-specific law and apply them to diverse fact patterns.
  • Identify common themes in how law has changed due to the Internet, and trace them through multiple bodies of law.
  • Evaluate the legal risks of a proposed course of online conduct.
  • Provide useful advice on legal options for dealing with unwanted online conduct.
  • Converse intelligently with lawyers and non-lawyers about contemporary issues in Internet policy.

For more information about previous versions of the course, including syllabi and final exams, consult my courses webpage.

Who is This Course For?

Anyone at Cornell Tech can take this course. There are no prerequisites. All are welcome.

Although this is listed as a “law” course and is required for LLM students, it is designed to be useful for and accessible to anyone who is interested in computer technology. Courses based on my casebook have been taught to law students, doctoral students, business students, and undergraduates in fields as diverse as political science and computer science.

If you have previously taken related courses in Internet law, online privacy law, cybersecurity law, digital copyright, or law and technology, please get in touch with me to discuss how much overlap there is with what this course will cover.

Course Outline

The following is a tentative schedule of readings. I will post a finalized schedule by the start of the semester.

Background:

  • Read the Introduction and 1.A (Technical Background). If you want an even more in-depth (but entertaining) introduction to how software works, read Paul Ford, What Is Code?, which was the entire June 11, 2015 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek.

Jurisdiction

  • January 23: 1.B (Theory) and 2.A (Cyberspace)
  • January 25: 2.B (Jurisdictional Conflicts)
  • January 30: 2.C (American Law) (skim section 3, which I will summarize briefly in class, but not ask you about)

Speech

  • February 1: 3.A (First Amendment Basics), 3.B (What is Speech?), and the introduction from 3.C (Harmful Speech)
  • February 6: Finish 3.C

Privacy

  • February 8: 4.A (Fourth and Fifth Amendments)
  • February 13: 4.B (Wiretapping)
  • February 15: 4.C (Anonymity) and 4.D (Personal Privacy)
  • February 20: 4.E (Consumer Privacy)
  • February 22: 4.F (An International Perspective) and U.S. v. Epic Games and California A.B. 2073
  • February 27: NO CLASS (February break)

Access to Computers

  • March 1: 5.A (Contracts) and In re Epic Games
  • March 6: 5.B (Trespass to Chattels) and 5.C (Computer Misuse)

Copyright

  • March 8: 7.C (Licenses)
  • March 13: 7.F (Section 512)

Platforms

Beyond the Internet

  • April 19: No class (Prof G. away)
  • April 24: Do the following for class:
    • Read Andy Baio, Invasive Diffusion; Andy Baio, Opening the Pandora’s Box of AI Art; Britt Paris and Joan Donovan, Cheap Fakes and Deep Fakes
    • Experiment with Stable Diffusion (available in several online versions, as a macOS app, and as an iOS app). Post your best generations, along with the prompts that you used to create them, to Canvas.
    • Sign up for an account to use ChatGPT and play around. Try to find examples in which it goes spectacularly well, and examples in which it goes spectacularly wrong. Post your best dialogues to Canvas.
    • Think of all of the legal issues and social challenges these types of AI raise.
  • April 26:10.A (Virtual Property)
  • May 1: 10.B (Blockchains) and CFTC v. Ooki DAO. Optional: If you want a more in-depth (but entertaining) introduction to how blockchains works, read Matt Levine, The Crypto Story, which was the entire October 31, 2022 issue of Bloomberg Businessweek.
  • May 3: 10.C (Defective Software)

Conclusion

  • May 8: Review

Examinations

Resources

Most readings will be taken from the casebook I developed teaching this course in previous years: Internet Law: Cases and Problems.

The following are not required but you may find them useful:

  • If you want an alternative take on the material, I maintain a list of affordable casebooks. In particular, I call your attention to Anupam Chander’s and Eric Goldman’s Internet Law casebooks. They have very different editorial approaches than my book, but they are priced affordably, are updated regularly, and are thoughtfully arranged.
  • For keeping up with Internet-law news, I maintain a list of recommended resources for students, which includes news outlets, newsletters, blogs, and podcasts.

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